1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage medium storing an information processing program and an information processing apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a storage medium storing an information processing program and an information processing apparatus which are used to perform an operation to select one or more from a plurality of objects using a pointing device.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, there is a technique which requires different operations between when selecting only one from a plurality of objects and when selecting more than one from a plurality of objects. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-304855 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses a game apparatus in which different selection methods are used between when selecting only one character and when selecting a plurality of characters, in a virtual world in which a plurality of characters exist.
In the game apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a player desires to select a single player character which exists in a virtual space displayed on a screen, the player directly touches the player character using a pointing device. On the other hand, in the game apparatus, when the player desires to simultaneously select a plurality of player characters which exist in a virtual space displayed on a screen, the player performs a touch operation to enclose the player characters using a pointing device (e.g., a touch panel). Specifically, when the player performs the enclosing touch operation, a red line is drawn in a virtual space, depending on positions where the touch operation has been performed. Of a plurality of player characters which exist in a virtual space displayed on a screen, player characters enclosed with the red line are selected. Thereafter, the player can move the player characters enclosed with the red line by further performing a touch operation with respect to the player characters enclosed with the red line until the player ends the touch operation.
However, in the game apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the player desires to select a plurality of player characters, the player needs to perform a touch operation to enclose the player characters, which causes a select operation to be burdensome. Moreover, in the game apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, the player needs to select a plurality of player characters which the player desires to move before performing a move operation, such as a drag operation or the like, which causes the move operation to be complicated.